>What do you suppose the weight difference is?

I don't know for sure, but would expect the fabricated arm (wishbone)
to be considerably lighter.

>I suspect that is not
>much, but probably the fabbed steel part is a bit lighter. I am puzzled,
>too, why the different years would handle differently.

Probably the difference in nonpowered & powered steering. It's not
the handling that differs, it's the steering feel. The nonpowered
steering probably has more feel, but is very heavy at low speeds. The
power-assistance probably removes quite a bit of feel (I can't say
here because I've only ever driven one T3, and it has nonpowered
rack... but I did convert my nonpowered 89 Corolla to power, and
noticed a definite loss of feel).

>And YES, I stand corrected, it is cast steel, not cast iron. Can anyone
>tell me the difference?

Iron is basically the element iron, alloyed with a  few nonmetallic
additives; casting this for some reason produces an extremnely
brittle metal. Steels are alloys of iron containing various other
metals for added strength, malleability, hardness,
corrosion-resistance or other desired properties. Nickel is good for
corrosion-resistance; nickel-iron is basically stainless steel.
Chromium with molybdenum is stronger than mild steel, but more prone
to fatigue fractures, I believe.

It is possible that those arms are forged rather than cast, but who
knows where to find out?
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut

HUMANITY: THE ULTIMATE VON NEUMANN MACHINE